Today I was at Red Robins and my seat was at the perfect angle, so that I was facing two walls. One, with a poster of James Dean....and the other with a poster of Steve McQueen.
Best. Seat. Ever.
(No, I have not blogged in approx. two years, and yes, this is my first post back. HAVEN'T YOU MISSED ME?! ;-D)
My final final is this Wednesday...THEN WE BE HAVING CHRISTMAS PARTY HERE AT CLASSICFOREVER!
-Millie.
P.S. Can anyone give me like a three sentence summary of Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass"?! I need it before 8AM. No time for SparkNotes. THANKS! ;-P
Michael Callan is really-- JUST COOL. He's wonderful in dramatic parts (he had surly J.D.s down so well! ;-D), BRILLIANT in comedy, he danced stupendously (he originated the role of Riff in West Side Story on Broadway), and he's a stinkin' icon for mind-smushing entertainment of the 60's!
I love him.
I also think Michael Callan is far too under-appreciated. Of the many "teen star" types of the 60's, Michael was quite unique, in fact, I wouldn't even categorize him in that "teen star"/Frankie Avalon type (even though Frankie is also awesome, of course, haha). Michael was (I say "was" in terms of his film career, he is still very much alive and well) very interesting in that, although he CLEARLY belonged to the 60's, he also possessed this almost 30's screwball, nonchalant charm. (I hope the preceding sentence made SOME sense! ;-D)
Of course that nonchalant charm could occasionally be silenced, like for instance, whenever he decided to randomly beat up Alan Ladd. ;-D
Michael Callan and his gang of "punks" mugging Alan Ladd in 13 West Street
Oh my gosh! The trailer for 13 West Street is just TOO hilarious not to share!
ANYWAY, back to the utter coolness that is Michael Callan. Another unique piece of Michael, was his background. He was a Broadway dancer and musical star, yet his first film was They Came to Cordura. A western. In fact, he hardly ever starred in films which revolved around his dancing ability. It simply melded into and become part of "him" as an actor. Of course even though he may not be playing a dancer, he definitely dances a lot in his films (random dances that in are always in movies-- he just makes them seem brilliant!).
An exception to that not playing a dancer, but still being a dancer rule comes from Gidget Goes Hawaiian. Where he does in fact play a dancer. My favorite scene. The Mambo. Wowzie Kazam.
Something particularly Michael Callanish that one notices after watching a few of his films (or watching Gidget Goes Hawaiian approximately 63, 426 times ;-D) is the restlessness he is always displaying onscreen. He's literally slightly hopping up and down on one leg-- ALMOST CONSTANTLY! His characters are always moving, always thinking-ahead. Which is probably why he so often played the charming, but irresponsible/rakish/untrustworthy guy. AKA: The perfect role for Michael Callan.
His "absolutely useless" Clay Boone in Cat Ballou
In fact, he got a whole TV show, created for the sole purpose of allowing Michael Callan to swagger around for 30 minutes every week doing absolutely nothing...but smiling. Briliant.
You can watch a whole episode of Occasional Wife here (I PROMISE it's hilarious):
Michael's real-life marriage to his Occasional Wife costar, Patricia Harty. (Also scanned by Kate-Gabrielle)
Basically, what I'm trying to tell you with this post is that Michael Callan is brilliant. And you should definitely check out some of his films. Because he IS necessary viewing for all so-called students of Mind-Smushing Entertainment. That is all.
(Not really. I just end paragraphs with "That is all", because it sounds cool.)
I actually made a tribute to Michael Callan using clips from a bunch of his different movies and a couple television appearances. (And if you are by any chance one of the few people who watched this originally last week when I posted it on Twitter: this is a revised version-- with the glitches taken out and some clips added, removed, or changed.)
Michael with Jane Fonda on the set of Cat Ballou
Official Michael Callan recommends from The Millie:
Cat Ballou - OF COURSE! It's probably his most famous role. AND IT'S SO MUCH FUN!
Gidget Goes Hawaiian - I mustache this movie. Which is odd considering I can't STAND the two lead actors (James Darren and Deborah Walley), but Michael (and Carl Reiner....and Joby Baker) makes up for that by being awesome.
Mysterious Island - Too cool for school! Michael gets to battle giant crabs, and dodo birds, and bees AND float around in a hot air balloon. WHAT?! Yeah.
Bon Voyage! - Yeah, Deborah Walley shows up again. BUT IT'S PARIS. AND MICHAEL DANCES. AND TOMMY KIRK HAS A FAKE MUSTACHE.
The Cat and the Canary - He's the "American" cousin. He's cool.
Okay, basically, I'm just going to name every Michael Callan film ever made....so yeah. Just know that you can watch anything Michael Callan at any time and KNOW that's it's going to be awesome. THAT is the basic life principle you should be taking away from this post! ;-D
Sir Alfred may be my favorite director ever. Twilight Zone may be one of my utter favorite TV shows ever. And I may think that Vincent Price + Horror Movies is the greatest combination since Tofu + Soy Sauce. BUT. I am unfortunately and regrettably easily and utterly frightened of anything even near to being a "scary movie".
What do those of us paranoid of fear do?! Well, we watch all things remotely frightening with at least 1-2 other persons and with a pillow in front of our faces for approximately 78% of the film. It works.
Or we watch pseudo-scary movies and pretend we are brave when really we're not.
Enter the brilliance of Bob Hope.
Now, for our Halloween selection we have two Hope films.
The Ghost Breakers is one of my favorite movies ever. It's hilarious, has great actors, AND awesome pseudo-scariness. You should probably go watch it.
The Cat and The Canary. Also Bob and Paulette Goddard. Also brilliant.
And, while you're at it, you might as well watch the 1970's remake. Not as brilliant or hilarious. BUT, you do have Honor Blackman, Michael Callan, Peter McEnery, Wendy Hiller, and Wilfrid Hyde-White, sooo. Yeah. Warning: This is not pseudo-frightening. Murder + long fingernails are involved.
Moving right along, we come to the awesomest movie ever set on Halloween.
Arsenic and Old Lace holds my heart. Everything about this movie. Peter Lorre is obviously the coolest one, but Cary Grant is a very close second. Followed behind by Teddy and the Aunts...and of course Boris Karloff (;-D). Now, if I were writing a play, I would DEFINITELY have the dead body be in the window seat. JUST SAYIN'.
Next, on our list of pseudo-scariness is something which is really not pseudoly frightening. But, which those of us who are paranoid of fear MUST pretend to find entirely unfrightening. This would be films involving Vincent Price. We must laugh at the "silly plots" and the "outdated effects" and dreadful "overacting" while not making visible ANY of our terror. Or the fact that Vincent Price has the coolest voice ever and is entirely too believable and frightening to be laughed at. (After watching House on Haunted Hill it is not recommended that you go around making sure all the doors are locked. This will show your true fear. Of course, when everyone is gone-- THEN YOU BETTER GO LOCK ALL YOUR DOORS.)
Um, well, Rod Serling is here because Niamhy (the Irish Leprechaun) decided that he deserves an award for his voice. Here it is. Congrats Mr. Serling.
P.S. Be sure and check out the Irish Leprechaun's Halloween Movie series!
P.P.S. Don't watch Mr. Serling's Night Gallery. IT IS SERIOUSLY FRIGHTENING.
Next up are a couple of TRULY frightening films, both with awesome lead actors, and the awesome Gail Russell. Okay, The Unseen is the only one that actually deserves to be on this list. PERFECT for fear paranoia. The Uninvited-- not so much. Even the mention of Mimosa makes me break into a cold sweat. But, I hate to break them up (and the above list is looking a little pathetic...I need to fill it up a little! ;-D).
Well, I don't know what else to say! Have an awesome day! And try to steer clear of elderberry- wine-bearing old ladies. (I've already had to detour around three today, personally.)
(Okay, I actually don't celebrate Halloween, but these suggestions are still perfect for the easily frightened. So yeah. Okay, I'm gonna leave now! ;-D)
When you watch ONE Steve McQueen movie, then you have to watch five more...and all the seasons of Wanted: Dead or Alive. It's really QUITE a problem. ;-D
I was quite ill yesterday, AND since my new laptop crashed 30 minutes after I got it (no mangoes were involved this time. ALTHOUGH, I had just finished a Mango Tango Odwalla before it was delivered... :-O), I decided to watch a movie. I decided on The Great Escape, which I had not seen in quite frankly, at least, 25 years. (Although, I had heard quite a bit of it since then-- coming through the walls of my next-to-me brother's bedroom.) It's such an awesome movie. And so, utterly quotable. Of course, THEN, I couldn't watch anything that didn't have Steve McQueen in it (it's a curse! ;-D). And I wasn't really in the mood for Magnificent Seven, because....
SPOILER ALERT: After watching TGE and seeing James Coburn and Charles Bronson make it to safety, I really couldn't handle Mag7 and watching them get killed while STINKIN' HORTZ BUCHOLZ LIVES. Yeah. Anyways. END SPOILER ALERT.
AND, since my oldest brother moved out last month (and took all his Steve McQueen films with him), there was nothing else to watch....except Wanted: Dead or Alive. All three seasons of it. Of course W:DoA is one of THE coolest westerns EVER. So, it was perfectly fine. I put a disc in on play-all. Currently, I am still watching Wanted: Dead or Alive.
It's kind of addicting.
So, Josh Randall is a bounty hunter. And THE coolest bounty hunter ever. He carries around a sawed-off shotgun and brings in crazy-scary outlaws. And he basically does it just for the money. Yeah. I mean, in one episode he refuses to help some nuns save another nun who was taken hostage by some outlaws...BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PAY HIM. That's just Josh Randall (he does of course save the nun and catch the outlaws by the end...sheesh.)
Anyway, I have harrible headache and am going back to my room to watch more westerns. Have a wunderbar day....and really...I WOULDN'T suggest watching any Steve McQueen. Seriously.
The title of this post comes from a card I made many, many years ago! My oldest sister makes THE coolest cards ever, using old books, magazines, and such! Once, when I was like 8 I was making cards with her and trying to be all poetic...so I cut out this chapter of a book that said "October Smiles At You". This card just needed to be sent to someone...in September. I still have this card. Without fail I find it-- every November. I'LL SEND TO SOMEONE EVENTUALLY. That person will be very lucky. ;-D
Okay, anyway...
I absolutely loved Kate's mix of the month. I had to steal the idea. So, here is my mix for October, that I have been listening to all month. Unfortunately, I had to leave out some of the awesome songs. HOW DOES THIS SITE NOT HAVE "ROLL ON COLUMBIA, ROLL ON" BY WOODY GUTHRIE?! A grievous error.
KUSHAY!
So. I have regrettably been away from my blog for far too long. IT'S NOT MY FAULT. I promise! ;-D
My laptop committed suicide, so I've been having to get by with the...cue ominous music...."family computer". Basically, I've been barely even doing my homework. AND, I HAVEN'T EVEN TALKED TO KATE IN LIKE THREE DAYS.
Care to hear about the harrible (yeah, I'm still talking like Shirley MacLaine) incidents surround my laptop's suicide?!
It was so-so day in the life of The Millie. But, it was about to get a lot better, because I was home from college.
AND, I had a glass of delicious, iced Organic Santa Cruz Mango Tea. It kinda makes life worthwhile (p.s. I bought said tea with final remaining pennies). I set my laptop, Arnold, on my desk, plugged it in and turned it on. I turned away to grab something...and....SMASH!....SPLASH! My laptop was flat on the ground...screen down....with mango tea all over it. It's IMPOSSIBLE to even think that I may have accidentally tripped on the charging cord. It was definitely a case of suicide.
I had exactly six days left on my warranty (I've had the computer less than a year), so I sent it in. I got word yesterday that the motherboard is fried and that is the one thing that is not covered by my warranty and if I want them to repair Arnold it will cost me $380. But, unfortunately, I had already spent my life's savings on that glass of mango tea, sooo....
ANYWAY, moving on to Thomas Paine. Mere moments ago, I finished an essay about the similarities between his and Phillis Wheatley's writing. They are both pretty awesome! (This adds nothing to my blog post. It just made the title of my post more symmetrical!)
Now, to the "vintage" part of my post!
So, today did not look to be going exactly excellently...just from the morning. So there I was sitting on a bus heading to college. I had my MP3 player on shuffle and was staring listlessly out the window. SUDDENLY, "Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" (Herman's Hermits) started playing. Who knows how it got on my player, but I just started laughing so hard. Peter Noone just sounds like a little leprechaun. A little British accented leprechaun.When it got the line:"Walkin' about, even in a crowd, well, you'll pick her out, makes a bloke feel so proud" I SERIOUSLY thought he was going to sing, "makes an elf feel so proud". Well, this dumb, little song from the 60's highly brightened my mood today! And NOW, on top of always saying, "Harrible" like Shirley MacLaine, I'll only ever be able to say "Lulvely" like Peter Noone.
So, how are you guys?! And BTW, if possible, send me the link to your latest posts. Minus my computer, I sort of forgot my password to Bloglovin' and sorta haven't been able to read any blog posts! :-/
